Obama, in Canada, Warns Against Isolationism and 'Populist Alternatives'

The former president spoke in Montreal at a Chamber of Commerce event

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File - President Barack Obama speaks during the final press briefing for White House press secretary Josh Earnest, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017, in the briefing room of the White House in Washington.

Former President Obama on Tuesday said Western values are still the envy of the world, and cautioned against embracing isolationism in the face of economic uncertainty, NBC News reported.

Obama, speaking in Montreal at a Chamber of Commerce event, said the world must do more to combat income inequality, noting that the concentration of wealth fans fears that governments exist solely to benefit the powerful.

"That's a recipe for more cynicism and more polarization, less trust in our institutions and less trust in each other. And it’s part of what leads people to turn to populist alternatives that may not actually deliver," Obama said.